This simple lunch counter also serves savory bowls of açaí, which is how folks in the Amazon eat it; it’s quite different from the sweet juice versions served everywhere else in Rio.

In the Amazonian state of Pará, people order their tacacá late in the afternoon from their favorite street vendor. In Rio, you don’t have to wait until the sun is setting. The fragrant soup of manioc paste, lip-numbing jambu (a Brazilian vegetable) leaves, and fresh and dried shrimp isn’t for everyone. But then again, neither is the Amazon.